PROJECT PHASES
Early Design Phase
This is the perfect time to get us involved. If we can be engaged early on in the Design Development phase, we can work more closely with the Design Team. By performing constructability reviews at regular intervals, we can utilize the feedback to favorably influence the design of the project. Some of the byproducts of that influence would be pre-fabrication and pre-assembly of system components, just in time delivery and a well-defined installation sequence. In doing so, utilizing BIM can save time, costs and downtime in the field.
Documents Released
At this stage, once Contract Documents have been released for construction, BIM can still be utilized for portions of the project, but some of the opportunities that BIM brings to a project may be lost. While time is of the essence in this case, there may still be quite a bit of useful tools that BIM brings to the table. Much depends on timing, at this point.
BIM for Owners
Let’s talk about BIM from the many different perspectives. From the Design Team side, their focus on BIM is from the time the contract is signed by and between the Owner and themselves. Their involvement will cease once the project is turned over to the CM/GC. Once the project is underway, the CM/GC is only focused on BIM until the project is complete and turned over to the Owner. But, the Owner needs to focus on BIM from the time the contract is signed with the Design Team and ceases once the last shovel of debris is hauled away upon demolition of the building.
BIM, when performed correctly, works as intended. Two projects come to mind. The first, a $51M Mixed Use facility. With the Design Team working in many different formats, including 2D lines, arcs and circles, we had to pull together all the details of the project.
Using BIM, we were able to discover deficiencies in the mechanical systems design that otherwise would have gone undiscovered until such time as they would have been expensive to correct. By working together as a group, we managed to resolve and overcome these deficiencies long before the issues made it to the shop drawing approval process.
Working together with the CM and Sub-Contractors, we were able to save nearly $2M in construction costs that the Owner would have incurred without our involvement.
On the flip side of the BIM Utilization chart, we were involved in a BIM project on a High School, where we were able to assist the Design Team and CM, along with a great working relationship with the Sub-Contractors. The size of the project was 189,800 SF at a cost of more than $60M. Working closely together and utilizing BIM to its potential, we took the project from a 30% DD stage to under roof in 10 months. In the end, the project was delivered 3 months ahead of schedule.
There is MUCH more to BIM than just the “B” portion, much the same as there is so much more you can do to utilize the model that has been created for the project by all parties involved in the process. But, in order to take advantage of that, one must begin with the end in mind. With proper setup and execution of BIM, the deliverable model can be a very useful tool in FM, future renovations, capital planning and more.